Needs within health care

Needs within health care

Multiple needs affect current health care facilities. Highest quality of care and safety must be assured for each patient. However, this must be achieved with limited budgets and limited number of staff. The issues at the forefront of general clinical care facilities are the combined result of clinical staff shortage and the growth of the aging population:

high risk of FALLs within clinical settings

Poor mobility, delirium, a visual impairment, or dementia increase the likelihood of patient falls. Within one year 44,000 patients have fallen out of hospital beds in England and Wales. This led to numerous broken bones and eleven deaths [1].

Falls are the most frequently reported adverse events in the adult inpatient setting. Most falls in health institutions occur in the resident’s room, especially during attempts to get in or out of bed [2].

[1] Manchester Mental Health and Social Trust., (2012) A Standard Operating Procedure for the Safe and Effective Use of Bedrails within Inpatient Areas

[2] Currie, L., (2008) Fall and Injury Prevention

high risk of PRESSURE ULCERs

Pressure ulcers remain a major health problem affecting approximately 3 million adults in US alone. In The Sixth AnnualHealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, pressure ulcers had the highest occurrence rate (48.73% of total patient safety events) leading to excess cost to the hospitals $2,413.16 Million USD, and excess charge of $4,826.33 Million USD. Given the aging population, increasingly fragmented care, and the increasing nursing shortage, the incidence of pressure ulcers will most likely continue to rise [3].

Other issues that general clinical care settings face, are:

Reduced accuracy in radiology imaging & vitals monitoring

Multiple issues affect conventional vital sign monitoring as they were not designed to operate with the radiology equipment. Standard ECG electrodes and cables often overlay parts of the image, may become dangerous causing injuries.